Promotions announced in Office of General Counsel

MACON – William G. Solomon IV, Mercer University’s chief attorney for the last quarter century, has announced his retirement, effective Jan. 4.

With Solomon’s retirement, Associate General Counsel Matthew Hall has been appointed by Mercer President William D. Underwood as interim general counsel. Also, Rachel Turnbull has been promoted from assistant general counsel to associate general counsel.

Appointed to lead the Office of General Counsel in 1996, Solomon has also served as secretary of the corporation since 2000. Although he will retire from his full-time role as general counsel and secretary of the corporation, Solomon will remain available to the University for consultation in a more-limited role as Of Counsel to Mercer.

“Bill is the finest university attorney that I have had the privilege of serving with in my more than 30 years in higher education,” said Mercer President William D. Underwood. “He is knowledgeable. He is honorable. And he exercises consistently good judgment. He has been a trusted and wise counselor and adviser. He has been everything that an outstanding attorney should be. He will be missed in his roles of general counsel and secretary of the Corporation of Mercer University. But I am grateful that we will continue to have access to his wisdom and judgement as Of Counsel to the University.”

A Macon native, Solomon previously served as general counsel for the University of Wyoming and associate general counsel for the University of Georgia. At Mercer he has been responsible for managing a broad spectrum of legal issues relating to Mercer’s strategic direction and operations.

Solomon earned his B.A. degree from Emory University in 1968 and his J.D. from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1973. A veteran of the U.S. Navy, he is a member of the Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve Initiative (ONPPI) board of directors and a former president of the Macon Civic Club.

A native of Blackshear, Hall earned his B.A. (1996) and J.D. (2000) from Mercer. Prior to joining the Office of General Counsel, Hall was a partner at Macon’s Spivey, Pope, Green and Greer LLC, representing individuals, professionals, employers, corporations and boards of directors in matters involving complex business litigation and commercial transactions. He is in his second term at Mercer, having previously served as associate vice president of development. He is active in the Middle Georgia community, having served as chairman of the board of The Salvation Army of Greater Macon, as a board member for the Central Georgia Autism Foundation and Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA).  

Turnbull was appointed assistant general counsel in December 2020 after serving as an associate with James-Bates-Brannan-Groover-LLP in Macon, where she focused on insurance and employment law. She is a Macon native and is a magna cum laude graduate of Georgia Southern University. Turnbull earned her J.D., cum laude, from Mercer School of Law.